How many Hyphens Can You Use

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by catanich, Aug 24, 2008.

  1. #1
    catanich, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  2. adiian

    adiian Well-Known Member

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    #2
    I don't think there is any upper number...

    If for a domain you have 2 it is bad because it means you have a 3 words domain and that's bad, so probably you are right.
     
    adiian, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  3. hasan_889

    hasan_889 Banned

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    #3
    I think total allowed character in URL is 256 - you can use as many as you want within that number really ;)
     
    hasan_889, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  4. lakelandprinting

    lakelandprinting Peon

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    #4
    I read this a while back on Matt Cutts Blog. It's a bit old, but I haven't heard anything else on the subject since:
    http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/dashes-vs-underscores/
     
    lakelandprinting, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  5. www.rapidvectorseo.com

    www.rapidvectorseo.com Peon

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    #5
    I don't any exact no. would be there for use of hyphens, still URL's with more and more hyphens will not look professional.
    Better to use 3 hyphens maximum in URL.
     
    www.rapidvectorseo.com, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  6. Brandon Sheley

    Brandon Sheley Illustrious Member

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    #6
    I think it's more like 60 ;)
    a 256 char domain would never get typed in..lol
     
    Brandon Sheley, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  7. Aryans

    Aryans Well-Known Member

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    #7
    Well I don't think there were any limit yes i know that hyphens is better to underscore but there are not big different
     
    Aryans, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  8. eautocad

    eautocad Peon

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    #8
    you can't use hyphens sorry
     
    eautocad, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  9. kappaknight

    kappaknight Peon

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    #9
    You're asking all the wrong questions. SEO is about content, you should design your site for content.

    For domain names, you do not need any hyphens unless the domain you want has already been snatched up. Ideally, you should find one without hyphens and this isn't so much for SEO as much as for users who type in your domain to get to your site.

    For your pages, there is no "max" number of hyphens. Use what makes sense.
     
    kappaknight, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  10. nepalsites

    nepalsites Peon

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    #10
    max 2 in the main domain name i say. anything above that human beings will have difficulty remembering. & obviously websites are for human beings. as for the inner pages, you can use as many as you want. again you might want to make sure that it is under 256 characters coz u don't want your filename to be truncated.
     
    nepalsites, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  11. Australianfranchises

    Australianfranchises Peon

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    #11
    Better to use 2 to 3 hyphens maximum in URL.
     
    Australianfranchises, Aug 24, 2008 IP
  12. Rituja

    Rituja Peon

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    #12
    only 3 hyphens good for URL, It's my knowledge.........
     
    Rituja, Aug 25, 2008 IP
  13. catanich

    catanich Peon

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    #13
    catanich, Aug 25, 2008 IP
  14. catanich

    catanich Peon

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    #14
    You have missed the point, we all know that you can use upto 256 characters but what is the acceptable SEO limit.

    Is it 2 hyphen in the Domain name?
    Is it 3 hyphens in the file name?
    How many in a subdirectory?

    What are the limits and when does it start to hurt you?
     
    catanich, Aug 25, 2008 IP
  15. usasportstraining

    usasportstraining Notable Member

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    #15
    Is it 2 hyphen in the Domain name?
    Is it 3 hyphens in the file name?
    How many in a subdirectory?

    Hyphens, from a search engine point of view, don't matter. Google, for example, is smart enough to recognize most word combinations, but it helps, especially in longtail urls with unusual word usage.

    What are the limits and when does it start to hurt you?

    I agree that url of 256 would be the limit, but I would try to stay at less than 100 characters. It shouldn't hurt you to use all the available characters in the url. In fact, you should try to maximize the word usage in the url, as much as possible. Don't worry about a limit of hyphens or underscores.

    As to "when does it start to hurt you" for a domain name with hyphens, you have to ask yourself what would be easy to remember for your users. Most of the public is used to domains without hyphens, which the hyphenated domain may look "unprofessional". The question is; is the domain more for your customers or the search engines? To be on the "safe side" for your customers, don't use hyphens in the domain (or limit to one only). That's my suggestion.

    Think about all those movie releases that are heavily advertised. They don't tend to use any hyphens in the domain. That is what the public is used to seeing.
     
    usasportstraining, Aug 25, 2008 IP
  16. Business Attorney

    Business Attorney Active Member

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    #16
    I don't have personal experience with a large number of hyphens in the domain name, but I do have a number of pages with multiple hyphens because I like the page name to be readable to the naked eye. I have at least one page with six hyphens and there does not appear to be any difference in the search engines between it and other pages on the same site with fewer hyphens.
     
    Business Attorney, Aug 25, 2008 IP
  17. usasportstraining

    usasportstraining Notable Member

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    #17
    I agree. I also find underscored urls to be the easiest of the two.
     
    usasportstraining, Aug 25, 2008 IP